Gun cleaning patch

ABSTRACT

A gun cleaning patch having microencapsulated cleaning solvent or lubricating oil deposited on a cleaning cloth and affixed thereto with a suitable adhesive. An overlay is provided to prevent capsule chaff from depositing in the gun barrel during the cleaning operation.

United States Patent Hanson GUN CLEANING PATCH [72] Inventor: Donald M. Hanson, 4531 Ritch Haven Road, Columbus, Ga. 31909 [22] Filed: July 6, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 52,589

Primary Examiner-Daniel Blum Attomey-Nevvton, Hopkins & Onnsby [57] ABSTRACT A gun cleaning patch having microencapsulated clean- UQS. C] or a [51] Int. Cl. ..F4lc 31/02 loth and aflixed thereto with a suitable adhesive. An Fleld of Search overlay is provided to prevent capsule chaff from l6l/DIG. 1 depositing in the gun barrel during the cleaning operation. 56 R f C'ted 1 e 4 Clairm, 3 Drawing figures UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,862,218 12/1953 Krone ......15/1 04.94 x

fi f k 7 5 2 PATENTEUMIB 8:912 3,682,556

INVENTOR Box/4w 1/ 641 150 BYM fW ATTORNEYS GUN CLEANING PATCH DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION end with a cleaning rod. While such a technique is in general satisfactory, it presents drawbacks in requiring that the shooter have a bottle of suitable cleaning solvent and a bottle of suitable lubricating oil handy whenever he desires to properly clean his gun barrel. It is desirable to clean and oil the gun barrel immediately after it has been used to prevent the incipience of rust and corrosion from moisture and the corrosive particles remaining in the barrel after firing. Use of a gun under field conditions such as experienced by soldiers and hunters where wetness and dampness are likely to be present accelerates the need for prompt cleaning to further prevent rust formation. While suitable solvents and oils are both readily available in small bottles for field use, if the bottle cap becomes loose, the solvent may easily evaporate or spill. These additional items of equipment must be carried along and kept tract of, and often become a nuisance to carry which is therefore conveniently lost or left behind.

Heretofore it has been theoretically preferable to insert cleaning patches from the chamber end, since most of the solvents would be deposited where most needed to dissolve corrosive particles which have been left in the bore by firing. However, such a method possesses serious disadvantages in that it sweeps undissolved particles into the front of the bore. Since most of the solvent or oil has been deposited in the chamber end, there is not enough left to dissolve these larger particles, and they either remain in the bore or are brushed along the sides of the bore. For this reason, most shooters insert a gun cleaning patch from the sight end so that any remaining particulate material is swept out at the firing chamber end. Such a method deposits most of the solvent along the sight end where there is little need for it, and thus sacrifices dissolving many of the small particles in favor of sweeping out the larger particles through the chamber end. A combination of cleaning from both ends frequently results only in redistributing corrosive particles to the middle section of the bore, and is therefore likewise unsatisfactory.

In recent years several techniques for microencapsulating various materials have been developed. There are basically two microencapsulation processes: chemical and mechanical. The major chemical process has been fully described heretofore in the art. The process consists of essentially three steps: In the first step, a three-phase emulsion is formed with a continuous phase of a liquid vehicle such as mineral oil, and coating and core material to form disperse phases. In the second step, emulsion dilution, pH, or temperature adjustment will cause the coating to form film around droplets of the core material due to both electrostatic attraction and solubility changes. In the final stage, the coating material is gelled. The resulting materials may then be dried or left in slurry form.

The most commonly used mechanical process for microencapsulation is based on centrifugation. Droplets of core material are flung by centrifugal force toward orifices over which a thin continuous fluid film has fonned. As each droplet hits the film and continues through the orifice, it carries some of the film (usually a polymeric material) with it which is then formed into a coating by surface tension. Since the continuous film covering the orifice is being constantly reformed, this method provides a steady continuous production of capsules.

These and numerous other modifications for microencapsulation are known to those skilled in the art, and form no part of the present invention. While originally developed for use in a manifold record material commonly known as carbonless paper, numerous other uses have been developed for microencapsulated materials, and it is heretofore been suggested, for example in US. Pat. No. 3,196,478, to provide dispenser packages containing encapsulated lubricating oil of a suitable viscosity for placing a layer of oil on sporting equipment such as guns, baseball gloves, outboard motors, and the like. While the applicator packages described here and elsewhere in the prior art are highly suitable for application of a desired viscosity oil to the exterior or other readily accessible portions of sporting equipment, they are in general unsuitable for efficiently cleaning the inside of gun barrels since they lack both the proper configuration and a solvent to dissolve powder residue, primer, and metal fouling in the gun bore.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the general purpose of this invention to provide an applicator for gun cleaning solvents or lubricating oils suitable for use as a gun cleaning patch which will remain dry during normal handling but will rupture the capsules when forced through a suitably sized gun bore, dispensing the encapsulated solvent or oil over the surface of the patch to efficiently clean the gun bore.

An object of this invention is to provide a gun cleaning patch which remains dry on storage and which when subjected to pressure releases a controlled amount of cleaning solvent or lubricating oil, optionally in combination with rust or corrosion inhibitors.

Another object of this invention is to provide a gun cleaning patch containing in rnicroencapsulated form a suitable solvent for the powder residue, primer, and metal fouling present in a gun bore after firing.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a gun cleaning patch containing in microencapsulated form a suitable lubricating oil which will uniformly coat the cleaning surface upon rupture of the capsules.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a gun cleaning patch containing a liquid microencapsulated cleaning or lubricating composition adhesively secured to the patch so as to uniformly coat the cleaning surface upon rupture of the capsules.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning patch containing a microencapsulated cleaning or lubricating composition which is related in size to the size of the gun bore to be cleaned so that the capsules do not rupture before the patch has been forced partially into the bore. The capsules continue to distribute the cleaning or lubricating fluid onto the surface of the patch as the patch moves through uncleaned portions of the bore.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a gun cleaning patch the surface of which will be continuously supplied with fresh solvent or lubricating fluid while passing the patch through a suitably sized gun bore.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other objects, features, and attendant advantages of the present invention will be more readily appreciated from the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT(S) Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, a course backing material I may be composed of any suitable woven or non-woven material having sufficient strength to resist tearing when a cleaning rod forces the backing material through the gun bore. Because they are readily available in appropriate sizes and familiar to shooters, standard gun cleaning patches are the preferred materials for use as the backing of the guncleaning patch of this invention.

Indeed, it is particularly desirable to use standard sized gun cleaning patches or other suitable material of similar size to fully realize the benefits of the present invention. Patches which are too small relative to the gun caliber will not be subjected to sufficient pressure to rupture the capsules when passed therethrough unless particularly large capsules (e.g., from 1,000 3,000 microns or larger in diameter) are used, in which case the patches become susceptible to capsule rupturing during normal handling and packaging. Patches which are too large relative to the caliber will be subjected to such high pressures on initially forcing them into the gun bore that most of the capsules will rupture immediately, thereby distributing the fluid on the outside barrel and sight end of the bore where it is least needed. When a patch size appropriate to the caliber of a gun is used with capsules of the size disclosed herein, the capsules rupture, releasing the solvent or lubricating fluid contained therein at the sight end of the bore as the patch is straightening out. The solvent or lubricating fluid is thereby distributed onto the coarse backing material as the patch moves through the gun bore, so

that fresh solvent or lubricating fluid is provided towards the chamber end of the bore where it is most needed.

Thus, for the first time, the advantages which result from cleaning a gun bore from both ends are realized in a single operation without the aforementioned disadvantages.

Capsules 2 are uniformly afiixed to the backing material with a suitable adhesive which will not be adversely affected by either the lubricating oil or the sol vent component contained therein. The capsule size will range from -l,000 microns, preferably from l00-500 microns in diameter, although larger or smaller sizes of course may be used if desired. While any of numerous encapsulating agents which are known in the art to resist solvent action from the oil, solvent, or both may be used, spindle oil is the preferred encapsulating component. It will be readily apparent, however, that other suitable encapsulating materials may be used if desired.

Facing 3 may be of any suitable thin porous or absorbent thin woven or non-wovenmaterial, such a thin cloth, paper, or even a thin cleaning patch such as the Hoppe No. 4 patch. The facing is necessary as an overlay to prevent capsule chaff from being deposited in the gun bore during the cleaning operation, and it will be appreciated that any material suited for accomplishing this result may be used.

A suitable adhesive 5 is provided which serves to both retain the capsules in a homogenous pattern, and to seal the coarse backing to the facing.

The gun barrel treating fluid 4 may be composed of a suitable viscosity lubricating oil, or a suitable solvent, in either event preferably containing rust and corrosion inhibitors known in the art. The capsules may also contain a combination of these agents.

In order to use the gun cleaning patch of this invention, it is necessary only to force an appropriate sized patch through the gun bore using a suitable cleaning rod. The patch is positioned so that the thin facing side is toward the inside of the gun. Normal pressure is created when forcing the cleaning patch'through the gun bore, causing the microencapsulations to rupture, thereby releasing the solvent or lubricating medium, which is deposited on the inside of the gun bore. The outer edges of the gun patch, not containing any solvent material, serve to sweep out any remaining particular material or excessive cleaning or lubricating composition. It will be understood that the proper size patch for any particular firearm will be dependant upon the bore size of the gun even more so than in prior art methods, since sufficient pressure must be built up when passing the patch through the bore so as to rupture the encapsulated materials. Suitable patch sizes for difierent caliber bores are known in the art.

It will be appreciated that while the foregoing disclosure relates to only a preferred embodiment of the invention which has been fully described, it will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. Accordingly, the invention within the scope of the appended claims is not limited to the specific embodiment described herein, since numerous modifications or alterations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A gun cleaning patch comprising a gun cleaning cloth; at least one layer of capsules adhesively affixed to one side of said cloth, said capsules having a diameter of from 100 to 1,000 microns and each capsule comprising a gun barrel cleaning solvent, lubricating oil or combination thereof enclosed in a capsule of mineral oil, said capsules being uniformly distributed over the central portion of said cloth, leaving a surrounding portion of the cloth free of capsules; and an overlay member of absorbent material adhesively secured to the said surrounding portion of the cloth and extending continuously over the capsules, the size and shape of said gun cleaning patch being such as to create rupture of said capsules as said patch is forced within a gun barrel by a cleaning rod, whereby said gun barrel 

1. A gun cleaning patch comprising a gun cleaning cloth; at least one layer of capsules adhesively affixed to one side of said cloth, said capsules having a diameter of from 100 to 1,000 microns and each capsule comprising a gun barrel cleaning solvent, lubricating oil or combination thereof enclosed in a capsule of mineral oil, said capsules being uniformly distributed over the central portion of said cloth, leaving a surrounding portion of the cloth free of capsules; and an overlay member of absorbent material adhesively secured to the said surrounding portion of the cloth and extending continuously over the capsules, the size and shape of said gun cleaning patch being such as to create rupture of said capsules as said patch is forced within a gun barrel by a cleaning rod, whereby said gun barrel treating fluid will be released through said overlay member.
 2. A gun cleaning patch as in claim 1 wherein the encapsulating material is spindle oil.
 3. A gun cleaning patch as in claim 2 wherein the encapsulated material is a gun cleaning solvent.
 4. A gun cleaning patch as in claim 3 wherein said cloth is covered with a continuous layer of adhesive which secures both the capsules and the overlay member to the cloth. 